| Pill Picker, Med Sorter, Life Saver! - Science Insider
Reported February 2010
HOW DO BAR CODES WORK? Bar codes, or Universal Product Code (UPC) symbols, adorn nearly everything we buy today. The codes include both numbers and a series of stripes that checkout scanners can read. The black and white stripes are nothing more than a simple code that is a machine-readable version of the number on the symbol. The bars in a UPC symbol are similar to the dots and dashes of Morse code, only instead of decoding a string of sounds, scanners decode information stored in the widths of the alternating black and white stripes. Morse codes have two components -- long dashes and short dots. UPC codes have three components: a thin line, a medium line that is twice as wide as the thin line, and a thick line that is three times as wide as the thin line.
ABOUT DRUG INTERACTIONS: Some drugs lead to negative consequences when combined with other drugs. In fact, even some foods can cause problems when consumed by a person taking medicine. Chocolate can conflict with medications for depression called monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors because the combination can lead to a spike in blood pressure. Alcohol can cause conflicts with medication, as can grapefruit juice and licorice. Dietary supplements can alter the behavior of different organs and cause interactions, including St. John's wort, vitamin E, ginseng and ginkgo biloba.
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.-USA, and the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists contributed to the information contained in the TV portion of this report.
If you would like more information, please contact:
Jim Ritter
Senior Manager, Media Relations
Loyola University Medical Center
(708) 216-2445
jritter@lumc.edu
American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists
Joseph Catapano
Communication Specialist
(703) 248-4772
http://www.aapspharmaceutica.com
catapanoj@aaps.org
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.
IEEE
Pender McCarter
IEEE http://www.ieee.org
IEEE-USA http://www.ieeeusa.org
p.mccarter@ieee.org
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